Greipel proved to be a class above the competition in the final stages of the 169km ride from Essen to Vlijmen, finishing well clear of Italian Giacomo Nizzolo in second with Boom third.

Boom’s third place was enough to move the Dutchman ahead of France’s Arnaud Demare in the overall standings due to bonus time on offer at the finish.

Demare dropped to third, three seconds off Belkin’s Boom, with Greipel moving up to second overall, just one second behind, thanks to his victory.

Team Sky’s Bradley Wiggins, last year’s Tour de France winner, was affected by a crash which split the peloton and lost 3 minutes 11 seconds on the day to fall 9 minutes 37 seconds adrift of the overall lead. However, he is fancied to win tonight’s fifth stage, a 13.2km time trial from Sittard to Geleen.

Defending champion Anthony Giacoppo has recaptured his form of last year by clinching an impressive double in the Campolina-Fulton Hogan Tour of the Great South Coast.

The Huon Salmon Genesys Wealth Advisers rider took out yesterday morning’s criterium before backing up with a bunch sprint victory in the gruelling Heywood to Casterton road race later in the day. Team Budget Forklifts’ Sam Horgan retained the leader’s jersey, leading Alex Morgan by 24 seconds and a further 53 seconds to Pat Shaw (Huon-Genesys).

Anthony Giacoppo wins stage 4 of the 2013 Tour of the Great South Coast, his second stage win of the day.

While Giacoppo didn’t expect to be a contender in the afternoon road race he found himself near the front as the 92.9km race — which featured eight hill climbs — approached the finish line in Casterton.

“I came over the top of the climbs in the second group. I tried to get in a few little moves here and there and when it came down to a bunch sprint, I knew there weren’t a lot of sprinters there.”

Giacoppo took out the afternoon’s stage ahead of Alex Edmondson (Euride Racing) and Shannon Johnson (Charter Mason) while in the morning’s criterium, it was Scott Law (GPM Data#3) and Tom Palmer (Drapac) who rounded out the podium.

New Zealander Horgan said it was a tough day, made easier by his Team Budget Forklifts teammates.

“It’s really about safety in numbers,” he said. “Our strategy is to stick together and that’s what we did today.”

The action continues today with a Port Fairy criterium at 10.30am and a road race from 1pm.

Follow the link for results from stage 3 and stage 4 of the 2013 Tour of the Great South Coast. Text adapted from a Cycling Australia press release.

ORICA-GREENEDGE NAMES TEAM FOR THE VUELTA

Orica-GreenEDGE’s nine-man squad for the 2013 Vuelta a Espana features two previous Vuelta stage winners — Simon Gerrans and Simon Clarke — and two riders making their grand tour debuts — Sam Bewley and Michael Matthews.

Matthews is in good form after winning two stages at the Tour of Utah in recent weeks and will go into the Vuelta as one of two sprinters for the team, alongside Leigh Howard. The team’s main strategy though, according to sports director Neil Stephens, is to target stage wins.

“Our objectives are very much like last year”, Stephens said. “Many of the stages suit our style of racing, and we’re capable of doing very well here.”

Laurens Ten Dam has extended his contract with Team Belkin and will ride with the Dutch squad through until the end of 2015.

Ten Dam finshed 13th at this year’s Tour de France after spending much of the race in the top 10. He also finished 8th in last year’s Vuelta a Espana.

“In the Tour, we allowed Laurens to ride for himself. He did very well despite the pressure,” said sports director Nico Verhoeven. “In the future, Laurens will have a free role more often in Grand Tours. In the Vuelta this year, he will lead Belkin together with Bauke Mollema. We have great confidence in Laurens.”

Ten Dam received several offers from rival teams but decided to stay with Belkin.

“I’m very happy to be part of this team, working with superb team-mates and sports directors. I have really improved here as rider. I’m happy with the opportunities I have and continue to receive. Honestly, I couldn’t find any reason to leave,” Ten Dam said.

Text adapted from a Belkin media release.

ANDREAS KLIER ACCEPTS USADA SACTION FOR DOPING

Former pro and current director at Garmin -Sharp, Andreas Klier, has accepted a sanction from USADA after admitting to doping throughout his career.

Klier admitted to using EPO, human growth hormone and cortisone, and to using blood tranfusions from 1999 through to 2006.